Newsom Clashes With LA Teachers In Urging Schools To Reopen

LOS ANGELES, CA — The state's largest school district appears to be on a collision course with Gov. Gavin Newsom and federal officials over whether it's safe to reopen schools while the coronavirus pandemic rages.

Newsom on Wednesday called for schools to reopen even before teachers are vaccinated, a stance at odds with Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent Austin Beutner and the United Teachers Los Angeles. Buetner has said that LAUSD school wouldn't reopen unless teachers are protected. Newsom's declaration is likely to rankle teachers who are already angry over last month's reorganization of vaccine priorities, which bumped Los Angeles teachers further back in line.

"We can safely open schools as we process a prioritization to our teachers of vaccinations and still keep our teachers, our paraprofessionals -- which means bus drivers, our cafeteria workers, janitors that are essential workers to keep our schools safe -- and keep our kids safe at the same time," Newsom announced Wednesday.

To prove his point Newsom said there were just 87 reported COVID cases in California schools last month even though the coronavirus surged.

"I'm confident we can get to where we need to go, and that's safely reopening our schools for in-person instruction starting with the younger grades and those with special needs," Newsom said. "I say this not academically or intellectually, but as someone with four young kids. The younger kids are not getting the benefits of distance learning that the older kids are. And I'm very concerned about the equity lens in terms of this conversation because so many private schools are open. I believe we can safely reopen public schools to in-person instruction with the appropriate level of safety and support and accountability in terms of enforcing the rules of the road."

Newsom's stance aligns him with the director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, who contends schools can safely reopen before all teachers have been vaccinated. It also comes as communities statewide are increasingly pressuring school districts to reopen classrooms over the objections of teachers worried about their safety and that of their students.

"I also want to be clear that there is increasing data to suggest that schools can safely reopen and that that safe reopening does not suggest that teachers need to be vaccinated in order to reopen safely," Dr. Rochelle Walensky said. "So while we are implementing the criteria of the advisory committee and of the state and local guidances to get vaccination across these eligible communities, I would also say that safe reopening of schools is not -- that vaccination of teachers is not a prerequisite for safe reopening of schools."

On Wednesday, San Francisco city officials announced legal action against its Board of Education in a bid to reopen schools more quickly.

“There’s nothing like a lawsuit to focus the mind and force things to come to a head,” Dennis Herrera, the city attorney, told the New York Times.

It’s a politically fraught move with implications for millions of students and families.
LA school officials have drawn a line in the sand, citing the need for teachers to be vaccinated before returning to the classroom.

In a recent message to the school community, Beutner said vaccines are "the last piece to help reopen classrooms."

"This will not only protect the health and safety of staff but will provide enormous benefit to children and their families with a faster reopening of schools and of the economy more broadly by enabling the working families we serve to go back to work," Beutner said.

Newsom, however, contends his $6 billion school reopening plan should provide enough protective equipment, COVID testing, and other safety protocols to make classrooms safe.
The state's guidelines call for campuses to reopen for the youngest students when local infection rates drop to a seven-day average of 25 new cases per 100,000 residents. Los Angeles County's current state-adjusted new case rate is 38.7 per 100,000. The county’s case rate is falling dramatically, but the state and the federal government have fallen short in meeting the promised pace of vaccinations in Los Angeles.

The county is currently vaccinating residents 65 and older, and, at the current rate, the process could take months.

UTLA officials remain opposed to schools while the infection rate remains high in Los Angeles County. The union advocates sticking with the state’s original tiered plan that requires the county's average new case rate to drop to 7 per 100,000 residents.

Last month’s sudden lifting of Stay-At-Home orders in the face of more infectious coronavirus variants created a rift between the governor and LA’s teacher's union just as he needed his traditional union allies to fend off a recall effort.

"Educators want to be back in the classroom but as the pandemic continues to ravage our communities, we are in the untenable position of fighting to save lives because our elected officials have failed to do so," Union President Cecily Myart-Cruz said. "The state's inability to stay the course on necessary, life-saving choices once again disregards our communities and people of color who have been risking their lives and dying at disproportionate rates in L.A. County and across the state."

City News Service contributed to this report.